Port Everglades and its cruise line partners, Carnival Cruise Line (Carnival, Princess & Holland America cruise lines included) and Royal Caribbean International, have announced that they are working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to launch two pilot programs this summer -- Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks and Mobile Passport Control (MPC) - that are designed to expedite secure entry into the United States following a cruise vacation.

Port Everglades is the first U.S. cruise port to test the programs, although they are currently available in many U.S. airports and for cruise passenger preclearance in Vancouver.

Both programs are designed to streamline the traveler inspection process and enable CBP officers to focus more on the inspection and less on administrative functions, Port Everglades said.

APC kiosks allow passengers to provide their travel documents and customs declaration forms prior to speaking to a CBP officer.

The MPC program is a smartphone app authorized to expedite a traveler's entry process into the United States. The app was developed by Airside Mobile and Airports Council International-North America in partnerships with CBP. It allows U.S. citizens disembarking a cruise ship to complete their Customs declaration using their phones, expediting their clearance process in the terminal. (Side note, this is also highly recommended at US airports for my clients who fly globally without global entry)

In addition, CBP's Global Entry program, which gives preferential processing to those guests who are Global Entry card holders, has been available at Port Everglades since summer 2015.